Les femmes connaissent la musique

In the '50s, there were a lot of British noirs made with American stars such as Dane Clark, Dennis O'Keefe, Cesar Romero, and others. These noirs were usually atmospheric and fun to watch.

"The Shadow Man" is from 1953 and stars Romero, along with Kay Kendall. Romero is Luigi, who owns a pin-table saloon. Apparently this is some sort of a casino with pinball machines. Anyway, the cops are usually watching it because some of the patrons are not of the highest quality.

Luigi meets and falls for Barbara (Kay Kendall) whose husband is a gambler and not much of a husband. She agrees to go away with Luigi, but when Luigi's ex-girlfriend Angele (Simone Silva) winds up dead in Luigi's apartment, Luigi has to ask help from his employee, Limpy (Victor Maddern) for help, and then hide out and try to figure out who murdered her.

There's nothing very special about this, except that I have always believed Cesar Romero was very underrated as an actor. He's marvelous here, very handsome with a great presence, using just a touch of his accent. His saloon is crowded, chaotic, nothing fancy, and has a wonderfully '50s atmosphere. Kay Kendall, his costar, would go on to big fame before her early, tragic death (recounted in the play "In Praise of Love," originally starring her then-husband, Rex Harrison).

Nothing exceptional except Romero and Kendall, but they make it worth seeing.

A typical 50s piece in B&W with Romero and Kendal holding it together. The rest of the acting ... Victor Madden limps rather too heavily whilst making sure the rest of his body is as twisted as is compatible with some forward movement. But is he twisted inside too?

Tommy Riley's harmonica lends an extra underworld tone. Obviously everyone smokes since this was cool. The sleeze factor is raised by the lack of spending on the sets.

Romero wastes no time by falling in love ASAP. Kendal, having had two years in a loveless marriage, surrenders (50s surrenders) immediately. It gets only slightly complicated thereafter.

This is a surprisingly well directed British B film in the noir genre. It was written and directed by the mysterious Richard Vernon (the only film he either wrote or directed), about whom little seems to be known. What happened to him? Who was he? Stalwart American actor Cesar Romero was borrowed for this film set in London's Soho, with dark streets and alleys as perhaps they were then. Kay Kendall is the love interest. She is what I call a 'fifties bust-thruster'. In those days, a surprising number of actresses hurled themselves bust first into their roles, convinced that this would advance their case. There is something about their stance, the way they stood and thrusted, which is so comical today. But it must have been effective with men at that time, or they would not have done it. An interesting footnote, or bustnote, for social historians, or anthropologists, perhaps? Kay Kendall died tragically young of throat cancer, and was much lamented. Here she manages an air of mystery and allure, though very fifties in every respect. Romero is effortlessly in command of this easy walk-through. A fine performance is delivered by Victor Maddern as 'Limpy', a pathetic East Ender with a club foot who gets all twisted up inside. Romero runs a pinball club in Soho, where Limpy is his janitor and caretaker. Two gals are floating, around stirring up various passions on all sides, some seamy card sharks are on the scene, some rough characters come and go, there is a murder, there are police, and Romero is suspected and runs. Will he clear himself? Can you guess?

A slick little British film noir in the French style with the usual atmospheric photography (both in the studio at Merton Park and on location in Soho) by Phil Grindrod, a moody harmonica score by Eric Spear (who later wrote the theme for 'Coronation Street') and a classy female lead in the form of Kay Kendall.

Victor Maddern's pathetic, lovesick sidekick 'Limpy' presumably led to his casting as mad scientist Donald Wolfit's hunchbacked lab assistant five years later in 'Blood of the Vampire'.

This film is included on a DVD that also has another "forgotten" Film Noir picture--SHOOT TO KILL. However, the film is called by its alternate title SHADOW MAN instead of STREET OF SHADOWS and stars Cesar Romero.

Romero stars as a man who owns a "pin-table lounge"--a place to drink, gamble and play various electronic games (such as pinball)--almost like a poor man's nightclub. He's generally a nice guy, but also a rather tough character. Oddly, for once, Romero uses a strong Spanish accent--something you usually heard less of in his American films.

When a woman is killed, Romero is caught trying to hide the body. Though he didn't do it, it sure looks bad for him. So, Romero escapes and spends the film trying to establish his innocence--a rather clichéd premise, to say the least. It's been done 1001 times before, so unfortunately, while it is well made, it's also incredibly familiar. Decent acting, decent direction and a second-rate plot--oh, and by the way, the soundtrack was really bad (it was mostly harmonica)!

FYI--Kay Kendall stars in this film. She later married Rex Harrison, though died of cancer just two years later in 1959. Also, the other film on the DVD (SHOOT TO KILL) is a more enjoyable film despite having a cast of no-name actors.